The Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Adults' Work Performance in Korean Organizations

Though a decade has passed since the concept of emotional intelligence was popularized, there is still lack of study on the effect of emotional intelligence on work performance. Most research on emotional intelligence are based on mixed models which include diverse personality traits that cannot be considered as components of intelligence. Also, Most of the studies applying the ability model of emotional intelligence are correlational research which assess EI and work performance at the same point of time. However, in this type of research, it is difficult to investigate whether emotional intelligence is the determinant or is the consequence of high performance. Thus, in this study, the current work performance of 72 members, who had their EI assessed eight years ago, were evaluated to explore the influence of EI on adults' work performance. This type of research is hardly found in the EI literature. The Adult Emotional Quotient Test (AEQT) was used to measure EI, and participants' job positions were used as the indicator of their work performance. The results of a discriminant analysis revealed that the employees' job positions can be predicted by their emotional intelligence, especially the emotional regulation score. This study contributes to the existing literature by providing empirical evidence that emotional intelligence can predict performance in the workplace. Also, the results imply that developing emotional abilities as well as cognitive abilities should be considered in training and development programs.